The School of Policy and Governance conducted Executive Education Program

The School of Policy and Governance (SPG) successfully conducted its third series of executive program in New Delhi on the 28th and 29th of June, 2018. This exclusive event saw the eminent speakers from health, policy, government, and NGOs come together on the same platform to share, discuss and explore ideas on building healthcare policy ecosystem in India.

The two-day Executive Education Program was launched in partnership with the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. SPG aims to equip leaders in the developing world with the knowledge and skills related to policies and ecosystem-related challenges. This is the third executive education program that was conducted by SPG. The earlier programs were on ‘Gender and Policy in India’ and ‘Building Online Communities for Civic Engagement’.

The speakers on day one included Ms. Radhika Shrivastav, Director of Health Promotion, HRIDAY presentation on how adolescent health has been at risk because of tobacco and alcohol influence, Dr. Ila Patnaik, Professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and Mr. Rajmohan Panda, Senior Specialist, George Institute India deliberation on the Universal Health Cover in India and Mr. D Praveen from George Institute India conducting a workshop with an ASHA worker from Rohtak on his new model of digital healthcare for rural India using SMART. We also had Dr. Nick Osborne from the University of New South Wales, Sydney present on a topical subject - air pollution, the challenges and cures.

The second day started off with an impromptu dance session for all participants by the WHO based on their new program - Be the Change followed by a session on risk factors and prevention of non-communicable diseases by Dr. Sadhana Bhagwat from WHO.  NCDs continue to be an important public health problem in India causing 61% of deaths.  Dr. Bruce Neal, Professor of Medicine UNSW Sydney highlighted the influence of salt and sugar leading to diabetes and hypertension. The program also witnessed an engaging session with Dr. Jitendra Sharma,CEO of Medtech Zone Andhra Pradesh and Advisor for Health & Medical Technology, Govt of AP on healthcare ecosystem and landscape, government initiatives and technology solutions.

Commenting on the program, Dr. Nick Osborne, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW, said, “Such programs are a means of enriching and stimulating thought in areas of critical importance for India. We are confident that the learning today will equip tomorrow’s leaders with sustainable and practical solutions, capable of positively influencing the future of Healthcare Policy in India. This is also a further strengthening of the relationship between India and Australia.”